Running room

Not to be confused with the Running Room, an athletics apparel company.

Implant platforms are circular in nature and generally exhibit a diameter of 3-6 mm, depending on the tooth to be restored. The mesial-distal dimension to be filled by the implant-supported crown (upper red line) will always be considerably greater than the diameter of the implant platform (bottom center) and the difference between these two dimensions (orange arrows) is gained in the apico-coronal distance between the implant platform and the contact points of the two teeth adjacent to the edentulous space (red arrow) being restored by the implant. It is desirable that most of this change in crown width be achieved between the implant platform and the gingival margin (gumline) so as to achieve an emergence profile as similar to natural as possible. The vertical dimension between the implant platform and the gingival margin is termed running room.

In implant dentistry, running room refers to the distance between the platform of a dental implant and the gingival margin.

Adequate running room is necessary to allow the implant-supported crown to exhibit a tooth-shaped contour despite the circular nature of implant platforms. In general, it is recommended that implants be given approximately 3mm of running room in compliance with the rule of thumb that implants should be placed as deep as necessary and as shallow as possible.

When implants are placed too palatally or lingually due to aberrant anatomical landmarks, bone resorption or surgical error, it is wise to place the implant more apically to increase the available running room in order to allow for a more convex emergence profile and avoid a buccal ridge-lap of the prosthetic crown in fixed partial denture cases.